Meena Singh is a Yorta Yorta and Indian woman, born and living on the land of the Kulin Nations. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Certificate in Business from Monash University. She has 20 years’ experience in legal practice and policy, consulting, and training design and delivery. She combines her lived experience with professional expertise and is passionate about understanding individual and community identity and experiences to promote inclusion, connection and ultimately achieve social justice.

Meena has held senior roles at several organisations, including inaugural Associate Director, Aboriginal Services at Victoria Legal Aid (where she began her legal career in criminal and human rights law), leading organisational change to promote cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and clients, and Director, Legal Practice, with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. Her consulting work has seen her work with many organisations such as Djirra, Brimbank Community Legal Centre and Hanover Housing Services (now part of Launch Housing). Meena is currently the Victorian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People.

Ginna joined the public service in August 1982 after her mother realised she hadn’t been attending her university lectures for several months. Nearly 40 years later she has worked in both the Commonwealth and Tasmanian State Service and lived in four different states and territories. Ginna has had some interesting moments throughout her career including being the first female drug detector dog handler in Tasmania, presenting to an auditorium full of scientists at the International Ion Mobility Spectrometry Conference in Canada and heading a new government department. Ginna collects autobiographies she never has time to read, enjoys playing her Fender Telecaster electric guitar and tries (unsuccessfully) to keep her dogs off the furniture.

Louise commenced as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Victoria Legal Aid in October 2018. She has extensive experience across the justice, social services and government sectors. Prior to her appointment at Victoria Legal Aid, Louise was the CEO of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Before this, she spent three years as deputy CEO at the National Disability Insurance Agency implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Louise was the inaugural director of Victoria’s Neighbourhood Justice Centre Project which saw the Centre opening in Collingwood in 2007. She has worked for the Victorian Public Advocate, the then Victorian Department of Justice and the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department in senior executive roles, as well as in local government, academia, the private sector, and ministerial offices. Louise holds qualifications in law, social work and social policy, and is keenly interested in the intersections between legal policy and public policy generally.

Ms Gillard is the first woman to ever serve as Australia’s Prime Minister. She was central to the successful management of Australia’s economy during the Global Financial Crisis and delivered nation changing policies including reforming Australian education at every level, creating an emissions trading scheme, improving the provision of healthcare, aged care and dental care, and commencing the nation’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities.

As she is affectionately known, Michelle Sheppard, or “Mama Mish”, is a highly respected presenter, advocate, and trainer in the gender equity space. As a transgender woman, she appreciates the difficulties within the grey created by the gender divide, traverses them herself, and willingly takes others on the ride with her.

Michelle brings her experience as a trans woman into her work, running diversity, equity, and inclusion training, mentoring colleagues, and providing extra support to anyone transitioning or affirming their gender. Michelle lays out the sobering statistics around violence and discrimination against transgender people, unemployment, financial troubles, and mental health issues but mixes them with anecdotes and funny stories from her life.

She embodies dignity, grace and the change needed to make a positive difference in others’ lives, empowers women and challenges barriers to inclusion, discrimination, and harassment.

Helen Clark has been a political leader for more than 40 years, having started her political career in the 1970s, being elected to Parliament in 1981, leading the Labour Party to victory in 1999, and establishing herself as Prime Minister of New Zealand for nine years. She then took on a critical international role as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme in New York.

Maree Davenport is the Chief Executive Officer of Endometriosis Australia. She also serves on the Federal Department of Health Endometriosis Expert Advisory Group and the organising committee for the World Congress on Endometriosis (hosted by Sydney in 2025).

Maree was the youngest woman elected to the Parliament of Victoria (aged 28), the first to have a baby while serving and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Housing, Community Services and Aged Care, Member & Deputy Chair of the Joint All-Party Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, Chair of the Redundant Legislation and Regulation Review SARC Committees and other senior policy roles.

A Member of Chief Executive Women and accredited Mediator (NMAS), she holds a Master of Leadership specialising in gender equality, diversity and inclusion, along with tertiary qualifications in property, communications, risk (GIA) and governance (AICD).

From 2013 until 2019, Maree served as chair of Minister for Planning’s Building Advisory Council (BAC) comprising of the peak bodies and regulators in the building and construction industry. She was also a Member of the Building Appeals Board at the Victorian Building Authority. Additional experience includes the Ministerial Roundtable Industry Skills Consultative Committee, the Critical Incident Protocol Working Group (DJCS), the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Industry Leaders Consultative Group and Building Confidence Report Steering Committee, along with the Victorian Swimming Pool and Spa Safety Committee. Maree is an inaugural Foundation member at Monash Children’s Hospital, a Board Member of Dandelion Wishes Foundation, and previously President of WavLink disability service for 7 years. She is an Ambassador for Carlton Football Club, appointed 2013.

Maree is a Mum of 3 and Nanree to 3 grandchildren. She has shared the life defining-challenges of endometriosis through her daughter, who developed symptoms at the age of eight. Brianna endured years without a diagnosis and many surgical operations. The challenges when symptomatic affect all facets of her life. She has become a nurse in an emergency department where she can support other sufferers. Brianna understands the challenges with fertility and pregnancy risk, and is delighted to be Mum to Oliver, born August 2022.

Tania is a Health Coach, Personal Trainer, Menopause Workplace Trainer, Meditation Teacher and Positive Ageing Advocate.

After a 20 year career in a corporate environment and then following her true passion in the health and wellness industry, Tania found herself ill equipped and struggling through her own menopause transition.  This served as the impetus for Tania’s pursuit of further education and exploration into empowering women to not just survive but thrive in all stages of life.

While menopause has presented its share of challenges, it has also been an immensely transformative experience for Tania personally. She has achieved an enjoyable healthy balance in her lifestyle, while also stepping out of her comfort zone and realising her 30-year dream of completing a marathon in her late 40s, followed by a 140.6 ironman triathlon in her 50s.

Tania’s passion lies in reshaping the prevailing narrative around ageing and menopause and instilling inspiration in women to reinvent the way they approach the ageing process. Her mission is to empower women to feel and perform their absolute best at any age.

Ingrid Ozols AM is an active workplace, and community, mental health and suicide prevention advocate, educator, and peer support consultant for 20 years, and a Senior Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne University.

Ingrid is founding director of Mental Health At Work (mh@work®), one of the first trailing blazing consultancies to commence workplace mental health, suicide prevention management, skills training and strategic initiatives 19 years ago, using the lived experience approach.

Over the last two decades, she has contributed to mental health policy reform in Australia, is currently a member of the Expert Advisory Group advising the Prime Minister’s Suicide Prevention Advisor, Christine Morgan. Ingrid is also co-chair of the the National Working Initiative’s Inclusion, Retention and Return to Work group of the National Mental Health Commission’s Creating A Mentally Healthy Alliance.

Ingrid travels the country and internationally speaking (and chairing, moderating) conferences and workshops and has appeared widely in Australian media and radio.

Bridie O’Donnell is a medical Doctor, Victorian public servant, former professional road cyclist, author and cycling commentator. She completed the Hawaiian IronMan World Triathlon Championships and represented Australia at three UCI Road Cycling World Championships.

A medical practitioner and surgical assistant before taking up cycling, Bridie later returned to medicine to work as a behaviour change physician and breast physician for cancer patients at the Epworth Hospital.

In 2016 Bridie broke the Women’s World Hour record at the Adelaide SuperDrome riding 46.882 kilometres, and in 2018 published Life and Death: A Cycling Memoir. She was the first Australian female commentator employed by SBS for the network’s coverage of the Tour de France from 2020.

In her first role in Government, Bridie was appointed the inaugural Head of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation in the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) in November 2017, and then took on new roles in DJPR as part of the COVID-19 response from March 2020 onwards.

She completed the EMPA at ANZSOG and the University of Melbourne over 2019 and 2020, and in November 2021 she was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

Bridie is currently on secondment to the Department of Health as Executive Director of Case, Contact and Outbreak Management (CCOM) for the Victorian Government COVID-19 Response.